Open Access

ARTICLE

Influence and Enhancement of Damping Properties of Wire Rope Isolators for Naval Applications

by Claude Prost, Bruno Abdelnour

Socitec US Sales and Marketing Director
Shock Specialist
The author can be reached at: cprost@vibrodynamics.com

Sound & Vibration 2018, 52(2), 7-10. https://doi.org/10.32604/sv.2018.03641

Abstract

Wire Rope Isolators (WRI) are well known and used for the protection of sensitive equipment against non-contact underwater explosions (UNDEX) on board Naval Ships, amongst others, which are extremely destructive and can comple`tely impair the ship’s combat capability.
Traditional WRI exhibit a number of definite advantages, such as large deflection capability, modularity and insensitivity to aggressive environment when proper materials are used. However, their inherent nonlinearity does not always provide the best solution in terms of shock attenuation. (Stiffening tension characteristics)
Fortunately, there are ways to overcome this problem, namely increasing their damping and/ or changing their aspect ratio. It is the purpose of this presentation to show how to overcome this problem and through analysis, by use of validated models of the shock testing machines. The existing technology will be briefly presented and HDWRI (high damping wire rope isolators) vs. conventional WRI responses will be compared on the US Navy shock testing machines of MIL-S-901D.
The US Navy standard MIL-S-901 defines a physical shock testing machine to impact the target before its approval. Different testing machines are used (LWSM, MWSM, FSP, and new DSSM) depending on the weight and size of the target, and on the deck frequency simulated.
The Socitec Group has developed a full model of the various shock testing machines using its in-house developed SYMOS software package. Currently, the Group is in the process of completing a model for the DSSM.

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